The present invention relates to an ice piece manufacturing apparatus having an improved guide plate for guiding ice pieces made on a manufacturing plate to an ice bin. More specifically, the invention relates to an ice piece manufacturing apparatus in which a guide plate is directly arranged below an ice manufacturing plate with the guide plate inclined toward the ice bin. The guide plate serves to separate the ice pieces as they are manufactured from any water.
Various apparatus have been proposed for manufacturing ice pieces. In such apparatuses, ice pieces are generally manufactured as follows: at first, when a cooling device is driven, a cooling medium is circulated in an ice manufacturing plate to cool down the manufacturing plate. Water used for manufacturing ice pieces is then provided from a water tank to the cooled manufacturing plate through a water providing pump. The water provided to the manufacturing plate is sprinkled over an upper surface of the manufacturing plate. The sprinkled water is gradually frozen and ice pieces are formed on the outer surface of the manufacturing plate. After manufacturing of the ice pieces mentioned above is finished, the ice pieces formed on the surface of the manufacturing plate are released from the surface by flowing releasing water onto the manufacturing plate which is utilized for releasing the ice pieces from the surface of the manufacturing plate. The released ice pieces are then guided toward an ice bin by a guide plate. Water that reaches the guide plate flows through holes therein to be caught and recycled.
Conventional guide plates installed in a conventional ice piece manufacturing apparatus are shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,426,954 and 4,505,130, hereby incorporated by reference. These conventional guide plates are generally rectangular and are installed between the water tank and the guide plate in the conventional ice piece manufacturing apparatus. As shown in the above patents, these plates have water recovery slits or slots in them to enable water to flow directly through while diverting the ice pieces off to the side into the ice bin. The plates cover the water tank. Upstanding side flange members are provided for attachment to the remainder of the apparatus and to direct the ice pieces solely towards the ice bin.
A guide plate 1 is known having a irregular trapezoidal main body 10. A partial view of such a plate 1 is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The main body 10 has an long laterally extending edge 12 and a shorter parallel laterally extending edge 14. One side edge (not shown) is perpendicular to the parallel laterally extending edges 12,14. The other side edge 16 is angled at about a 450 angle to the parallel laterally extending edges 12, 14. The angled side edge 16 is joined by a triangular side plate 20. The general shape of the triangular side plate 20 is a right triangle. The angled side edge 16 of the main body 10 joins the side plate 20 along the hypotenuse 24 of the side plate 20. This juncture can be called a hip. The hip is defined by a flat joining plate section 30 which extends in parallel with the angle side edge 16 and the hypotenuse 24 of the triangular side plate 20. As shown in the plan view of FIG. 5, the angled side plate 20 has a plurality of water recovery slots 42 which parallel the hypotenuse 24 of the plate 20. The main body 10 has a plurality of water recovery slots 44 which are aligned perpendicular to the laterally extending edges 12,14. The flat joining plate 30 has a plurality of longitudinally extending water recovery slots 46. The underside of the angled side plate 20 as shown in FIG. 6 is provided with reinforcing ribs 52 molded therein extending in parallel with the two perpendicular sides 22 of the triangular side plate 20. The underside of the main body 10 is provided with reinforcing ribs 54 molded therein extending in parallel with the laterally extending edges 12,14 and perpendicular thereto. The underside of the joining plate 30 is bare of any reinforcing ribs.
Several difficulties have been encountered with the above design for a guide plate. There is a tendency for ice pieces to be caught in the lowermost two longitudinally extending water recovery slots in the joining plate. This causes interference with the travel of any following ice pieces sliding down toward the ice bin. In addition, a stream of water flowing on the under side of the joining plate, probably caused by surface tension, causes water to flow over the edge of the water tank. Still further, a stream of water builds up in the lower corner where the faces of the angled side plate, the joining plate, and the main body meet.